Charleston: Hop & Jaunt’s Top Five Things To Do

Romantic, vibrant, and deeply historic, Charleston, South Carolina, was so much more than we expected. Though I’m a huge New Orleans fan with it’s architecture, culture, and it’s unique character I have to say that Charleston is now a formidable contender for a “unique city to visit” in the U.S.

The Customs House

St. Philip’s Church

If New Orleans is the slightly rowdy, fun loving, center of the party type of kid on the block, then Charleston would be it’s more mature and gentle older brother with a softer Southern accent.

We stayed in Charleston for about 5 days visiting my ever nomadic parents who had recently moved there. Here are the top 5 things we recommend to do while visiting Charleston!

1.) Walk, Walk, and Walk around the historic down town!

On the first day we took a long walk around the old neighborhoods in the downtown area. Spring is the perfect time of year to go, as all of the trees and flowers were in bloom and the meticulously maintained lawns of the giant historic homes glisten. I just love walking around unique neighborhoods and in this regard Charleston does not disappoint. Almost every other house is adorned with a plaque stating it’s role in the history and development of America. For such a young country it’s one of the few places you can go and say “ah, this house is 200 yrs old” “but this one is 348 yrs old” “George Washington slept here after his party at the Exchange Building.” The recent economic downturn might have something to do with the many “for sale” signs we saw out on the lawns. But our fantasy of picking up one of these “charming” ten bedroom historic houses was soon crushed by reality when the second Mazeratti was seen in the driveway…we might have a while to go before we could move into this neighborhood! But getting lost in this old world charm is free, so grab your walking stick and a camera!

A Rather Charming House

Another Rather Charming House

“The Marriage Compromise House” So called due to it’s two different styled front balconies that the each spouse wanted while building their new home

The Unique Charleston Style Homes are facing sideways with large porches in order to maximize getting air flow throughout the house

The best part of walking through the neighborhoods and it’s multitude of architectural styles is that most of the houses are still real homes, with families that maintain the buildings. For those curious to see how the better half lived in the past there are a few house museums you can tour in as well.

Find Out What Else To Do While In Charleston! (more…)

The Blue Sea At 10,515 feet

Qinghai Lake, written as 青海湖 translates literally as ‘blue sea lake’. It is the largest lake in China. The reason it’s often referred to as a “sea” is that this lake, which sits at 10,515 feet elevation, is SALTY! This lake also happens to be the largest body of saline water found in China. The lake is famous for it’s almost surreal turquoise glow. The color of the water is one of the most unique I’ve ever seen, caused by the low oxygen levels in the lake. Or by the nuclear testing done back in the ’50s and ’60s… either way it’s an out of this world view.

Qinghai Lake at 10,500ft

I was fortunate enough to get a chance to travel to this remote “wild west” region of China for a couple of days with my Dad. I was living in Shanghai for a few months at the time and he was in the country on business. Heading west together we got to explore a whole new face of China, a world away from the bustling smog enshrined metropolis of Beijing and Shanghai, together.

Qinghai is the western most (un)official providence in China. To it’s northwest is the  Xianiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and to it’s southwest is the famous Tibet Autonomous Region. There are a few don’t miss places to see while in the area, the Blue Sea Lake and the Kumbum Monastery. Today, let me take you around the lake district.

To get to the lake we rode on a min-van across vibrantly green plateaus for an hour or two, stopping off at a Tibetan Buddhist shrine built on a hill in the middle of no-where to stretch our legs.

A Small Village We Passed By, The Yellow Flowers Are Harvested For It’s Oil

I don’t recall the name of this small shrine, but I do know that it was built for an important female deity. Though there are only a few building that might house people in sight along the horizon, the shrine happens to be right off the two lane highway to the lake. It is a big enough tourist bus stop to ensure roadside vendors, entry ticket salesmen, and locals dressed in traditional clothing either selling the clothing or selling the opportunity to take a picture with them.

Ticket Vendors. The Traditional Coats That The Locals Wore Are Perfect For The Climate, Thick And Warm (Plus Great Style)

It’s definitely worth the stop! Not just to stretch your legs but to walk up the little hill and take in the scenery, colors, and the beautifully ornate temple. There are yaks laying about with their traditional Tibetan outfits on (pay per snap), and several local merchants to buy the ornate jackets from. The air is so much thinner up at those heights that I remember feeling out of breath just from the short hike up. Also it was quite chilly, even during mid-summer, and the strong winds were a never-abating!

After the short lay-over at the temple we headed on ward towards the “Ocean In The Sky.” The pictures really don’t do it justice, as the color of the water seemed to glow, it reminded me of blue kryptonite for some reason….

This used to be an atomic bomb test site back in the ‘50-60s as well, might explain the glow in the water…

A Camel by a salty lake 10,500ft up, not a sight you see everyday

Tibetan Prayer Flags

Tibetan Child “model”

I took that last picture of this amazingly beautiful little child, only to find out that I owed her money…and was then surrounded by another ten kids offering to pose with me. Turns out they are here to pose with tourists, and they can be VERY persistent so either have some change ready or hide your camera.

Once at the lake you can take ferry rides out to exposed sand dunes in scattered throughout the lake. On our ride over we met a very interesting elderly couple, who were both so sharply dressed in their own style in a way I wished I could pull of. Turns out this was their first vacation, and first time leaving their village to the east. They spoke a very strong dialect and even our friend who spoke fluent Chinese had a hard time understanding them. The most amazing thing about meeting them was once again finding out how small the world is. Though they had never left their small village in rural China it turns out that their son is currently living in Seattle…as a computer programmer! Guess which company..? They were planning on visiting him and flying for the first time later that year.

The Coolest Grandparent’s

Loved Her Look!

On the way out of the designated lake viewing area there are display tents from the regional nomadic tribes. Though these are for tourists, we saw communities of nomads who had set up their tents along the waterfront on the way in. The number of nomadic people are dwindling, part economic pressures to migrate to the city and also in part by a concentrated effort by the government who have built cities for the sole purpose of relocating the nomadic people to a permanent location.

Nomadic tribes camped out for spring

Set Up For Tourists To Tour

Another interesting thing to check out while you are in the area is the Tibetan Mastiffs. These are huge, woolly, adorable looking, but at times vicious guard dogs of the region. There are a several pens where the dogs are housed. When I was there there were a few teen pups that made you forget how tough these fighting dogs can get.

They Have Been Bred To Be Strong & Ferocious When Needed

But How Cute Is This?

Next post will be about the Kumbum monastery and temple. If anyone has been to this area or to the monastery please feel free to add any additional information or tips you might have come across. There is not that much accurate info on the web for this region.

Getting Lost In The Forbidden City

It was one of those overcast and muggy summer days in Beijing when you could feel the grime from the city clinging to your moist skin. I had gotten up that morning bright and early. I bade my host family good bye with a series of hand gestures headed off towards the center of the city. After a couple of crowed buses and subway ride I found myself looking across the People’s Square and into Mao’s giant eyes. I say giant because there is a giant portrait of the former leader over the main entrance to the Forbidden City.

Forbidden City Gateway

Enter The Forbidden City

Look At The Guy Up There, The Buildings Are Massive

Máo Zédōng’s Gaze

(These videos where my first attempt at recording a trip back a few years back, thus I didn’t know better than to hold the camera still longer. You’ll see what I mean as these videos goes on…)

I was excited to head inside and explore, I had hear of the Great Wall of China, and have been there several days earlier, but I had not heard or learned much about the Forbidden City until arriving in Beijing. What I found was one of the most awe inspiring and amazing places I have ever been.
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Andalusia – A Stroll Down Memory Lane

HOP & JAUNT LLC

I am happy to report that HOP & JAUNT, LLC is doing well. Alyson and I couldn’t be prouder of our modest company. We had always wanted to start our own business. In the past we would spend hours pitching all kinds of crazy business ideas and company names to each other. I never would have thought that our business would end up being named HOP & JAUNT, …but I really like it. Its much better than my previous favorite name of “ThunderCORP”.

We’ve been back stateside for over 3 months now. Initially we had travel withdrawals which made us feel depressed or anxious. But since we’ve got the company going time has just flown by. We’ve been putting in some pretty heavy hours. We open up shop around 8 in the morning and usually close up sometime after 10pm. I have to say that it makes a difference working overtime when you are doing it for yourself.

Since we’ve been working so hard, today we decided to reward ourselves by going out and exploring a little bit of my hometown, Andalusia Alabama.

Welcome to Andalusia

We spent the morning exploring Andalusia’s Town History Museum. Its a humble museum located in an old train depot, but inside we found some pretty cool things. How the city came to be named Andalusia is a story of local legend. Andalusian was the breed of a legendary white stallion name “Destinado”. The horse’s unmatched speed, strength and courage enabled Creek Indian Chief “Red Eagle” to escape capture while battling over land against white troops. Supposedly, the town square is built around the site of the horse’s burial place which was marked by a Poplar tree with the words “Destinado Andalusia” carved into the trunk.

A Mural of the Legend of Andalusia

Walking through the museum was like stepping back into another era. Since we were the only two people there we were able to really take our time and get a personal tour from the curator. Admission to the museum is FREE.

An Old Alabama School Room

The Clark Family Log Cabin

The Old Clark Family Home

Alyson had a fun time playing around in the exhibits.

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The Backyard Zoo: Mobile, Alabama

Roadside attractions and road-trips in America. The concept alone fills one’s imagination with nostalgic images of family road trips in station wagons, Route 66, and a whole assortment of 50s era postcards. I even get this image, and I really can’t be that nostalgic for an era that I was never alive in. But the icons and myths of America’s favorite pass-time is still alive and strong today, even if we mostly just drive on the interstate. John loves the idea of a road-trip, for him a dream trip would involve a classic car, a tear-drop camper and driving across the States stopping at all the classic spots. I love the image of such a trip, especially if we actually had a classic car or a cool camper, but the truth is I hate sitting in the car for more than an hour or two at a time. I don’t know if I’ve just become jaded from seeing so many places but for me the scene out of the car looks the same 99% of the time. Luckily I don’t get car sick so I always try to bring some “toys” with me to keep me occupied. If it’s a long trip my side of the car would feature books, sketch pads, camera, phone, and anything else that might distract me for a period of time.

However, since we are back in the USA for a period of time, I have decided to learn to love the road-trip. Specially since driving is still one of the easiest ways to maneuver around this giant country. In order to have a road-trip you really need a destination. But to have an even better road-trip you need some awesomely corny road-side attractions. These are harder to come by, so a little planning and research will go a long way to making your next road-trip a postcard worthy one. Check this website out for weird and bizarre things to see in your area: Roadside America. This is the site where I learned that in Gibsland LA, there is a museum and marker for where Bonnie and Clyde got ambushed and that in Fort Worth there is a tree full of Bicycles. Random? Yes, but the fun of looking for these odd-ball attractions can keep your road-trip entertaining and comment worthy!

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Perros and Plazas of Cartagena

During the last month of staying in Cartagena (we were there 3 months) we rented a room at Casa Valdez, a hostel-like place only a block from Plaza Trinidad. We had scored the upstairs room with the only balcony/window at the place by the second week and though the water didn’t work in the sink we  called it home. The hostel technically came with a pretty decent communal kitchen but John and I were already so unaccustomed to cooking that it might have taken a half a day to recognize what it was.

Untouched Kitchen

It had most of the utensils we needed.

Nice Design.

The truth is that we had grown accustomed to eating the ‘typical’ food of the city at as local a price as we could get them. There was not many meals that we could make that would be as good or as cheap as a Chorri Perro (giant hot-dog with crushed potato-chips, four different sauces, and melted cheese) or bbq chicken and vegetables on a stick, or even a plate of beef steak and potatoes from the street vendors at our local plaza (square).  The truth be told we were quite happy to save our money by going out to eat everyday. We tried street vendors, local lunch dinners, and on a special occasion we even splurged on a five-star night out. Today I’ll take you on a mini culinary tour of the city of Cartagena.

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Storming the Castillo

 The Hop & Jaunt crew explore the largest fortress of the Spanish Main.
Its been nearly a month since we left Colombia.  Alyson and I are really missing the tropically warm climates and bustling city life.  So today we are blogging about one of our favorite afternoons in Cartagena when we visited the “Castillo de San Felipe De Barajas:  The largest Spanish Fortress in the World!”

Castillo de San Felipe De Barajas

The fortress is really an impressive structure.  It can be seen towering on its hill looming over the old city and water front.  It’s a massive construction, but it needed to be.  In the days of Spanish Conquisition in the New World, Cartagena was THE major port for exporting gold back to Spain.  That meant that nearly all the gold in South America had to come through Cartagena to make the jump to Europe.  As anyone can imagine, this made Cartagena the jackpot for pirating.  Pirates plundered and attacked the city numerous times.  Most notoriously was Sir Francis Drake, the famed English privateer.  Eventually after numerous attacks and ship loads of stolen gold King Ferdinand of Spain ordered the fortress to be built.

It took over 200 years to build it.

Although you can see the castle from anywhere in town we did have some trouble getting to it.  First off, we didn’t know the actual name of Castillo de San Felipe De Barajas.  We just called it the Big Fort.  So when we got into a taxi cab we had trouble giving directions to the driver.  Neither of us knew the Spanish word for “Fort”.  We drove around in circles for nearly 15 minutes babbling to the driver about how we wanted to go to the “Big, Old, Building”.  The poor guy was so confused.  He kept staring at us through the rear view mirror asking, “Que?”  Finally, I remembered the word Castillo and he instantly knew what we were talking about.  He had a pretty good sense of humor about it.

Entry into the fort is about $5 US dollars and its definitely worth it.  One great way to spend an afternoon in Cartagena is just walking around taking pictures, and the Castillo is a pretty awesome place to explore. 

Alyson camera ready at Castillo de San Felipe. Our photo tour begins.

Guard tower at the corner of the wall.

At the top of the wall, there are several entrances into the fortress.

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24hrs In Bogota

It was a couple of weeks before Christmas when John and I decided to heed the call of his family and visit them for the holidays. We managed to find a decent deal flying out of Cartagena (not the cheapest place to fly in and out of) and as a bonus due to the flight schedule we had an entire day to spend in Bogota. The catch was that we had not told a soul, our visit was to be a complete surprise to his family. The only one who knew was his cousin Griffin, who we had arranged to pick us up at the airport. In order to achieve maximum impact we orchestrated the arrival to be on Christmas Eve, at night when we knew the entire extended family would be sitting around the tree at John’s childhood home.

Flying To Bogota

We flew out of Cartagena without a hitch and in a few hours found ourselves racing through city highways and traffic as our yellow cab wound it’s way through Bogota to our hostel.

Airport Vendor in Bogota

Handy Translations For Tourist In Bogota Cab

We arrived in the hostel by 3:30pm and we had to be at the airport no later than 5:30 am the next morning. With such limited time we wanted to hit the city fast to see as much as possible. After checking in we realized a few things about our immediate surroundings: 1.) Our hostel, the Cranky Croc, was the nicest backpacker hostel we have been in, and 2.) It was CHILLY in Bogota at 60F! It was a little worrisome that it was already feeling freezing to us at 60F when where we were going in the U.S., even though in the South, was a nippy 30-40F! I guess spending 8 months where the temperature never dropped under 70F had seriously damaged our sense of hot and cold.

Our hostel, the Cranky Croc, was created by a backpacker who fell in love with Colombia and wanted to create a hostel where all the needs he had identified while traveling where put into practice. The results are quite nice.

Cranky Croc Hostel

Aly at the Cranky Croc Hostel

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How to Tell Which is a Witch

La mesa de la bruja

While living in a new place its important to learn more about the local culture and history.  For this museums are just great, and Cartagena offers several beautiful buildings outfitted with a variety of historical artifacts and relevant information.  Recently, we visited the Palace of the Inquisition which is considered one the most significant constructinos of civil architecture in Colombia.  Built around 1770 this building was the center for the Spanish Inquisition in Cartagena, where witches, heretics, and other ‘sinners’ met the infamous torture devices hidden away in the dungeoun cellars. Over 600 of the accused met their end inside those walls. Today it is a museum with some of the torture devices on display, and the building itself is an amazing piece of work but knowing what happened there gives you a bit of a chill. 

Palace of the Inquisition, Cartagena

No One Escapes the Spanish Inquisition

Interior courtyard of the palace

So during their reign of terror the Spanish Inquisition used a variety of twisted and sadistic tools to convert protestants, slaughter indigenious indians, and interrogate witches about the details of their craft.

 As you will see from the following photos, they were some pretty sick bastards.

The twisted things people do for politics and religion.

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Amazing Knockers

Cartagena is home to some amazing knockers. Though plastic surgery is almost a national pastime here, we are not talking about the girls today. Sorry boys. Also known as “The Door To The Americas,” Cartagena boasts some of the most beautiful architecture in the Americas. Once you’ve strolled through the romantic streets of the old city you’ll understand why it’s been designated a world heritage site since 1984. We have walked these streets almost everyday since being in Colombia and still never tire of seeing something new in a building or plaza that we missed the last time around. The details that adorn the buildings and streets are what keep it so interesting. So today we will start with some of the details of the city that have fascinated us and from there pan out to the overall city and sights. I hope you find these knockers as fascinating as we did.

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